Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a generic term for diseases that have been conventionally called chronic bronchitis or emphysema. COPD is a chronic disease of the lungs, which is caused by long-term inhalation exposure of harmful substances mainly containing tobacco smoke, and is said to be a lifestyle-related disease that occurs in middle-aged or older people against the background of smoking habit.
In the drug therapy for COPD, a bronchodilator (an anticholinergic drug, a β2-agonist, or a theophylline drug) is mainly used, and an inhaled anticholinergic drug or an inhaled β2-agonist that mainly dilates the bronchi for a long time is used. In addition, an inhaled corticosteroid is used in severe cases.
In recent years, as a drug effective for the treatment of COPD, for example, a quinuclidine derivative as a muscarinic M3 receptor antagonist (Patent Literature 1), N-phenylbenzamide having a bronchodilation effect (Patent Literature 2), and a substance that inhibits the production or accumulation of chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans as an emphysema inhibitor (Patent Literature 3), have been reported.